NOTE:  Corrected winners have been updated as of August 31, 2018 for the following categories; CBD Flower, CBD Isolate, CBD Oil, and CBD Live Resin.

The Washington state edition of this year’s DOPE Cup took place amidst the ambling crowds and smoky waterfront views of Seattle’s 27th Annual Hempfest, the world’s largest yearly gathering advocating cannabis legalization. The DOPE Cup was presented by Ionic at 6 p.m. on the Seeley Black Memorial Stage, decked out with truffula trees and other Dr. Seuss-style art for this year’s theme, “DOPE Land.”

Things started off with a statement from Max Montrose of the Trichome Institute on the credibility of their rigorous and transparent judging process for the awards. It takes weeks for the trained judges to analyze entrants’ products at a microscopic level and evaluate their quality using the same standard operating procedures called TAG (Trichome Assurance Grading).

The logos of event sponsors like Oleum Extracts, Mammoth Labs, Flav, Native Kind, Fairwinds and Evergreen Herbal cycled through the display screens as DOPE Magazine co-founder David Tran began calling out each awards’ first runner-up and winner. After each announcement, the ecstatic representatives of the winning company had their chance to accept their DOPE Cup and pose for onstage photos.

With more than 30 categories ranging from Best CBD Oil to Best Pre-Roll, there were a lot of winners, but the biggest ones included Olala Edibles—who won for best drink, best THC oil and best CBD live resin—and Phat Panda—who won best infused pre-roll, both slots for most potent flower, and several other honors for their Dabstract distillates.

Thank you to everyone who competed in this year’s DOPE Cup Washington and all the attendees who were a part of the very first DOPE Land weekend at Hempfest.

August 18 marked DOPE Magazine’s seventh birthday, and the line for the corresponding celebration stretched halfway down the block. Guests filtered into the Golden Ticket Party (GTP) at Block 41 in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood beginning at 9 p.m. Each guest received a drink token while passing a beautiful display of DOPE issue covers spanning the years from its founding to present before entering the spacious, industrial-chic downstairs area.

Here, guest could lounge in funky furniture holding current issues of DOPE along with other goodies from GTP sponsors like Ionic, Tokem, Lexaria Bioscience, Vitalis Extracts, Dutch Valley Farms and Phat Panda. A spacious outdoor area allowed attendees to mingle with their peers. No doubt, new friendships were made and old friendships rekindled at this incredible event.

After visiting the bars and iPad-enabled photo booth, the first thing to draw one’s attention was the fully-stocked munchie table, where dozens of jars containing jellybeans, pretzels, gummy bears and other candies sat beneath a pegboard wall displaying about every kind of cake donut imaginable. Needless to say, these munchies went rather fast.

DOPE’s birthday cakes, on the other hand, were purely for show. Heading upstairs, one could just admire the towers of pristine white buttercream frosting emblazoned with hemp leaves and the DOPE logo, beside a brick wall projected with a highlight reel of the magazine’s history.

The projection continued behind the second-story dance floor, which grew steadily in popularity as the night went on thanks to the sounds of DJ Anthem and the duo Oleski. The same could be said for the outdoor patio, where guests could be found at any given point in the night enjoying the party with their peers and soaking in the ambiance of the night air.

Some GTP guests were dressed in their finest cocktail party attire, while others were more casual, having clearly just migrated over from Seattle Hempfest—some with newly-minted DOPE Cup trophies in hand.

Its hard to imagine the humble beginnings of DOPE Magazine launching at Seattle Hempfest just a short 7 years ago to what it has become today – but witnessing nearly a thousand people turnout for the annual celebration shows the impact they have had on the budding cannabis industry. Happy 7th birthday DOPE, and here’s to many more!